For fun, realism, longevity, and variety I'd say VBS1 (Virtual Battle Space 1). It costs approx $200 Australian. It was developed by the USMC and Australian Defence Force as a realistic mission simulator, and they've put it on the public market now.

now that sounds like a pretty cool game. full spectrum warrior was developed with the army as a training device. while america's army was developed as a recruiting device. both were done with the cooperation of the military though. i'm curious as to how that aussie game plays now. the only thing i really don't like about full spectrum warrior is that the replay factor sucks and you can't get that first person shooter feel when you want it.

where can you get it fron Nick?
and what are the specs required?

I played Ghost Recon 2 at my friends the other day. It was alright, not great. The missions are pretty challenging.

Lets see...
The Operational Art of War - Also has a great scenario creator for practically unlimited replayability. Want to create a battle scenario? You can do so right here. But to make it right, you'll almost have to put in a Masters level research into it lol.

Metal Gear Solid series - Not realistic at all but it's fun as hell!!! Plus a lot of the weapons etc. area real so that can be loads of fun too. The latest one, MGS 3 Snake Eater is the best.

Battlefield Vietnam - I liked it. I know someone here doesn't like it but I enjoyed it thoroughly even though the maps did seem a little repetitive. Modern combat should be great. I really enjoy being the transport helicopter pilot. I did that a lot in Battlefield Vietnam. A lot of dudes go on suicide runs or just don't pick up passengers but I was different.

Search and Rescue 3 - Well.. a cute little Coast Guard rescue game. You can also do free flight, pretend the Dauphin is a Black Hawk and conduct "special operations" with it. :P

Originally Posted by the_13th_redneck

Search and Rescue 3 - Well.. a cute little Coast Guard rescue game. You can also do free flight, pretend the Dauphin is a Black Hawk and conduct "special operations" with it. :P

So this is what the US coastgaurd does when not busting criminals!

where can you get it fron Nick?
and what are the specs required?

This the is websight for it
http://www.virtualbattlespace.com/

Just started playing Halo 2... that game totally rocks!

I though Halo 2 sucked.... but then again I thought that Halo 1 sucked also.

VBS 1 is just "Flashpoint 1.5"

It comes from the same authors, uses almost same addon coding, the only thing fancy is the Observer Module-which could be replicated to some extent in Flashpoint with scripts.
Otherwise it's Flashpoint aimed at the military and enhanced slightly in the graphics department.
Basically it offers 6 CD's containing the game, observer module, animal pack, opfor pack and USMC an Australian Army addon discs....for only about a 1000 $.

Flashpoint is a much better intermediate solution until the sequel comes out, costs only about 10$ and offers a bazillion of addons that are completely free.

But if someone decides to buy VBS1, there's a tool which easily converts Flashpoint addons into VBS addons.